WAUGH Evelyn
Love Among the Ruins - WAUGH Evelyn - 1953. [1274462]1953 - WAUGH, Evelyn. Love Among the Ruins. A Romance of the Near Future. London: Chapman & Hall, 1953. Slim octavo, original gilt-stamped red cloth, uncut, original glassine. Housed in a custom cloth chemise and half morocco slipcase. $3900.Signed limited first edition, presentation copy, number 241 of only 350 copies, additionally inscribed by Waugh to his friend and the Director of Publications and Exhibitions at the MoMA: "For Monroe Wheeler with kind memories of Ceylon from Evelyn Waugh.""Love Among the Ruins is a nasty little tale set in a dystopia of the near future, interesting". as a reflection of the author's prejudices, his hatred of 'progress,' of politicians, psychoanalysis, abstract art, functional architecture, and all branches of the Welfare State" (Hastings, 553). Published the same year as the first trade edition. This copy is inscribed to Monroe Wheeler, the Director of Publications and Exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Wheeler was elected a Trustee of the Museum in 1944 and was appointed to various other high-profile internal positions at MoMA from which he had a profound influence on areas including education, exhibitions, the library, and management. Wheeler, due to both his career and personal interests, focused on strengthening the publications program and MoMA became known internationally for its outstanding monographs and exhibitions catalogues. MoMA became a leader in visual art books in all areas, from design to reproductions to scholarship. Wheeler was not just the force behind these changes but was also at the forefront as an author of many of these works. His work on exhibitions was equally respected and his exhibitions such as Cezanne to Miro and Turner, for example, continue to set the standard. Wheeler was well-known internationally in the arts and literary world and had many close associates, including some of the great luminaries of his day. His lifelong romantic partnership with Glenway Westcott brought him into the Paris expatriate literary circle alongside Gertrude Stein and Hemingway. One of his closest literary friends was Evelyn Waugh, who he met in Ceylon, where Waugh had decided to travel to escape the dreary English winter and to get well (his health was deteriorating due to drug dependency). Unfortunately, he began to suffer auditory hallucinations. His letters written from the ship headed toward Ceylon described "other passengers whispering about [him]" and he claimed to be hearing the voice of a BBC radio personality named Stephen Black who had recently interviewed him. Alarmed friends made plans to retrieve Waugh, but, by the time those were settled, Waugh had already left for England, convinced that he was possessed by devils. When he was finally examined by a doctor, the diagnosis was bromine poisoning from his involvement in drugs. Modern physicians have also speculated that alcohol-related psychosis may have been to blame. On July 5, 1954, after he recovered, Waugh sent a letter to Wheeler (currently at Yale) thanking Wheeler for "[his] many kindnesses in Ceylon""the 4 Roses Whisky, the sleeping pill, and [his] gay company." In 1957, Waugh wrote The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold, in which he placed a light veneer of fiction over his Ceylon trip and the hallucinations he experienced. It remains one of his most popular works. From the Wheeler collection, with Wheeler's bookplate.Only slight wear to rare glassine. Book fine with exceptional provenance and a wonderful inscription. [Attributes: First Edition; Signed Copy; Hard Cover]
[Bookseller: Bauman Rare Books]